Oil Slick (thing)

Ah, the oil slick. The natural predator of both the cartoon and video game race car driver is so consumed by its desire to hunt racers that is able to transcend media boundaries and attack both animated and player-controlled racers.

None is immune to this deadly foe. When his fellow racers aren't sabotaging the Mach 5, Speed lives in fear that Trixie will radio him and say "Speed, watch out! There are oil slicks all over the track!" Diddy Kong fares no better. The oil slick has camouflaged itself in a pretty green balloon — waiting for just the right moment to strike and cause that poor, sweet monkey to spin out of control. It matters not whether a racer is famous or unnamed. Boot up Rareware'sRC Pro Am for the NES, and within minutes your 8-bit truck will have spun in more circles and ran into more walls than you can count. Thank God you were wearing your seat belt.

The oil slick has no natural predators. Even dihydrogen monoxide, the most effective of cleaning solutions, doesn't mix with oil. Thankfully, oil slicks are relatively stationary — at least they are when we're looking. One must wonder, how did the oil slick get to that bend in the race track? Why do they hate racers so much? And how can they be defeated? To date, oil slicks are unbeatable. They lie in wait, and all any intrepid racer can do is endeavor to avoid them.

Oil slicks are here to stay. Perhaps, one day the sport of racing will move to skies where, currently, the oil slicks cannot hunt us. Until then, always be on the lookout for nature's darkest, inkiest, slipperiest predator, the oil slick.